Forgotten Night (Open)

by **Adrasto** on March 19th, 2012, 1:56 am

Timestamp: 18th of Spring, 512
Setting: The Blue Bull, although, I could see this changing
Local Time: 9:30 pm

The night was young in the city of the blue people. The sky pitch black from the clouds with not a drop of rain, it had a certain calmness to it. While the heavens planned to rest for the evening, some people choose to make the night their time; one such person was Adrasto. Having been free of his mother for four years now the man had taken quite a liking to the drink in all his free time. Adrasto in his years had been to all the clubs and bars in the city but The Blue Bull appealed to his tastes more than any other. He regularly joked at the idea of going to the Dhani Dance club, it was a home to snake people and its patrons were leg-humping Akalaks, it sounded more like a circus act than a place to drink and loosen up; and while The White Crane was full of nice people, it was just a tad jazzy for Adrasto. The bull’ attracted Adrasto with its drink and patrons, the old Akalaks who told stories of bravery, the women who were a lot more contemporary than those at the other clubs, and Adrasto felt like he was somewhere else when humans stopped by for drinks.

Adrasto had just gotten a fresh pair of clothes and bathed after a hard days work and deiced to head to the bull’ to relieve the days stress. As he walked the streets he noticed they were particularly empty tonight, it almost didn’t feel good to disturb the piece in the air. As he approached the establishment he saw the usual bouncer, Diover, at the entrance. The two had become acquaintances over Adrasto’s frequents and but something seemed wrong when their eyes met.

Holding his hand to Adrasto’s chest Diover stated, “Sorry sir, the boss said not let anymore human men into the bar tonight, the only people who came out tonight were you guys and there’s not enough women in there to keep our men happy.” This was coming from a man who’s attention span was short as the day is long. Adrasto heard uncertainty in the Akalak’s voice and would not be deterred.

“Hey, hey, listen I know you blues all wanna’ find a girl and all and that’s cool but you’re telling me, an important patron to this tavern, to go home because you think the male to female ratio is off? I just wanna’ get a drink and take the stress off myself, I wasn’t even planning on looking at the girls tonight anyway.” Adrasto said it all with a smile on his face and you could see Diover’s straight-faced discontent.

“I’m sorry but I have to do what the boss tells me; no ifs, ands, or buts.”

“If I’m corrects Diover, the first thing you guys need are butts, ifs and ends,” the Akalak let out a loud laugh at Adrastos word play. “How bout you say this, I was here before but I had a bathroom emergency and had to rush home, your boss isn’t about to start questioning my word now, is he?” Adrasto touched the mans shoulder and spoke, “I promise I’ll keep to myself, friend.”

Smiling the man lowered Adrasto’s hand and stepped aside with a wide smile, “just don’t make too much of a ruckus and avoid the women and we’ll be fine.”

by **Adrasto** on March 23rd, 2012, 3:27 pm

“You guys got any bourbon behind this dusty-old counter?”

The bartender paused, the old man had worked behind this counter for years and the word bourbon oddly struck a very old chord. After spending a moment on his tongue a simple, “yes,” came out the graybeard’s mouth as he rummaged through the workings of his post. Adrasto watched over the railing of the bar, the sound of glass pushed up against glass got the attention of the room, their attraction was lost when the man found the bottle and dragged it across the rim’s of wine glasses. “Syliras black label, says its extra sour mash with a touch of honey aged in charcoal barrels,” the man read off the bottle he reluctantly grabbed by the handle, and as he moved his hand he read one final bit of information, “it dates to the winter of 477, you sure you want this?”

Adrasto smirked, “that’s perfect, take one of those small glasses off that shelf over there and pour some of that in there; and actually bring me a mug of ale while you’re at it.” The coot nodded and began to prepare the drinks, and when the order was served Adrasto dropped the shot glass into the ale and put the mug to his lips, than after a short sip he braved the rest of the drink and left the cup hollow. The bartender looked a little startled when Adrasto looked at him, telling him “get me another ale, I think I’m gonna’ sit on this one.”

by **Kadrath Onktaka** on March 23rd, 2012, 4:18 pm

It had been another long day of rebuilding, restoring and cleaning literally tons of debris since before dawn. Rath wiped a tired hand over his eyes and walked into the bar with an exhausted trudge to his step. Serriff was the only other guy hanging at Sanctuary and as much as he loved Raiha, the Akontak needed a break. Maybe Serr would stop in here later.

He knew the bartender would be surprised that Rath was Akontak, not Akalak as he'd appeared for the last 44 years. The seven foot, 220 lb man had a gleam in his icy blue eyes and a smirk to his smile as he headed to the bar.

"Hey Kadrath! You havin--"
The question trailed off into silence as the bartender noted the man's scales and webbed fingers along with the gills at his neck. He stood a little straighter and tried not to stare at what he'd always thought was just another Akalak.

"Your usual ale?"

Rath nodded and took a seat at the bar. An enormous, 3 foot tall hunting dog curled up under the bar stool, his dark eyes staring at the human nearby. This caught the large blue man's curiosity and he followed Fidens' gaze to the person a stool over.

'It is the human blacksmith apprentice we saw many seasons ago. His master made father's sword of Isur steel.'

'Ah that's where we've seen him before. He doesn't look Konti born.'

'He's not. His mother is another Kuvan from a rumored land of ice all year round.'

The internal thought conversation between brothers was swift and done in less than a chime. Rath took a long slug of the fine, potent ale and listened as the small human ordered a fancy drink from a place like the Blue Bull. He shrugged and idly watched the slightly familiar guy.

Rath had really wanted to get the Kennels built and it would cost him nearly all of his pay. He'd been saving up and he was now at the point where buying expensive booze was simply out of the question. Ale was the most he'd able to afford until he got his business up and running; it was something that would take longer to start up than he'd care to think about.

He turned to the mixed blood and asked quietly,
"I've seen you around the blacksmith's a while back, haven't I?"

(When Rath speaks and when Uruk speaks.)

by **Adrasto** on March 24th, 2012, 5:12 am

Adrasto sipped on his drink, gazing into the bars crowd. Some humans in the corners, the Akalaks made up the bulk of the group and to contrary of the ratio, the two damned women danced between the two spreading their time equally. Child birth was a scare for the wives of Akalak and their focus was.. deterring at points. This coupled with the overall warmth of your own kind, human men and the Akalaks had fair game with the women in town, which must of been frustrating for the blue people.

Adrasto's eyes always got back to the waitress, or was she a barmaid? She served drinks and could make em' too, she swept the floors and kept the guests happy. In Adrasto's mind she was more important to the bar than the bartender. the old coot took pride in the long time in the craft but he couldn't even give a glass of bourbon properly to a man. The barmaid was a charming Vantha, much like Adrasto's mother, and immediately stood out in his mind due to her beauty. A small frame with vivid feminine features, her long hair and white smile made her stood out. The two caught gazes every now and again, it was all too innocent.

Adrasto heard the door bust open alarmed, he turned to look. Another Akalak making a scene, he surprised Adrasto by sitting at the bar next to him, you figure he'd be friends with the men at the table. The bartender and the Akalak squared off, Adrasto smirked at the semi-awkward talk. Adrasto figured the blue skin had something to say and wasn't surprised when he opened his mouth, "I've seen you around the blacksmith's a while back, haven't I?"

"Thats a question for yourself, I don't know your face personally." Adrasto finally got a clean look at the Akalak, he was different from the rest. The gills made an immediate impression, he had heard of an Akalak walking around with something like that. They weren't easily scene behind his garb, but this close it was very hard to hide things like that, although it was very easy for the common man to not actively observe.

"I used to do some metal work, the master croaked though. I'm looking for work but nothing been comin' around." Adrasto swished his drink and took a sip, "how about you? What's your place in this town?"

by **Malaki** on March 28th, 2012, 4:00 pm

I am bored. Let’s go drinkin!

You can’t think of anything else to do to entertain yourself?

Nope.

It was a cheerful response that meant he would be pestered in submission. Malaki’s lips twitched in a near smile before he stood, it was cool tonight but not cold. Forgoing the shirt he slipped on his pants and stepped out his apartments. Setting a brisk pace he headed straight for the tavern. He did not want just any tavern though; he wanted something close that would be busy.

Blue Bull.

Nodding in agreement for once the large blue man patted his pocket to make sure he had coin for drink and altered his course a bit.

Upon finally reach said tavern he was not surprised to find little to no tourist and instead a sea of blue, purple and the odd red. The air smelt of sweat and drink. It wasn’t exactly pleasant.

Already your scowling! How do you—

It was not easy to tune a dark brother out but Malaki had practice. And ignoring Kripkes ceaseless chatter was nothing new. Strangely enough the tavern was not too loud either. Drunken whispers and waving arms, though there was still the loud ones.

Scanning the crowd he seen none he knew. Not that he knew many but acquaintances made for good drinking buddies. All seemed absorbed in some conversation or another. Similar words floating in-between.

“Akontak—“

“But he wasn’t like that before!”

“The storm, most likely.”

Following their voices he ended at the bar, his original destination. Waving the bartender over he ordered a mug of ale, to which Kripke scoffed and called him a lightweight. In turn the dark brother was ignored once more.

And Malaki did not mean to stare. But never before had he seen one. So this was what all the fuss was about.

Odd looking thing.

Still ignoring his other half Malaki listened to the conversation, butting in with his two miza and trying not to stare at the Akontak man.

“Metal work will be scare until we fix our city.” His words punctuated by a swig of ale and a twitch of his lips.

by **Kadrath Onktaka** on March 28th, 2012, 4:42 pm

Adrasto's tart, callous reply had Rath's left eyebrow shooting up quizzically. That is until he realized that he shouldn't expect Akalak behavior from a Kuvan.

'He shows no regard of or loyalty to his Master or trade.'

'Maybe he's grieving.'

'Did it sound like he was grieving?'

Rath considered Uruk's comment for a chime and dismissed it. Besides, it was hard to concentrate with the stares and speculation from what were once well known acquaintances.

A long haired Akalak joined them and he felt the weight of his questioning gaze. The huge dog, Fidens, looked up at the approach of an Akalak and more importantly, sensed Kripke. He put his nose to the air to catch the scent, his talent displaying itself in always finding the dark brother.

When Malaki made his comment to Adrasto, Kadrath nodded a silent acknowledgment of his presence. He kept his ice blue eyes on the dog beneath his feet, avoiding the uncomfortable stares his nature was causing. Uruk reveled in the attention and didn't mind one bit. In fact, he was convinced they should have never kept themselves secret for so long.

'Your animal shows the active presence of his dark brother.'

'Good. Repressing your brother only leads to insanity. Even when he's annoying like you Uruk.'

'Shutup and drink.'

(When Rath speaks and when Uruk speaks.)

by **Adrasto** on March 29th, 2012, 4:12 pm

“Metal work will be scarce until we fix our city.”

Adrasto looked over his shoulder to find the babbling on his left side, in between him and Kadrath was an Akalak with long dreads, standing over a foot above Adrasto. The man seemed more of a fighter than a thinker, of course there would be metal work. The city's buildings would need repair, tools replaced, walls strengthened, weapons would need to be reforged as well. The Akalak had not even finished his first drink and was already talking trivially, shocking, considering the normal coolness of an Akalak.

In Adrasto's mind he was surprised Kadrath had let the comment slip by, such foolery was normally regarded as a great embarrassment to their people. Still, the Akalak's had a lot of racial pride, and as thus Kadrath was probably more caught up judging Adrasto than he was by the mysterious dread-head's shortsightedness. Reading through the lines of the idle conversation, Adrasto, with some drink in belly, decided to let loose with his tongue.

"Rude, was that not?" Adrasto asked looking towards Kadrath, then back at Malaki. "When you see gentlemen having a conversation you do not simply interject on what you overheard prior to introducing yourself, such is how children break ice." Adrasto took a sip of his drink, thinking to tell the man of how to act properly, and than deciding against it. "Now, to answer your comment, if this is no time for metalwork than why have we been cleaning the traders out of ore this season? We need to start rebuilding, and bracing for another storm, metal is important to such."

Adrasto finished the last of his ale and motioned the bartender over. "Fill this with water," Adrasto pushed his glass towards the coot, "and get these men another ale, would ya? Seems they both could use it." Adrasto said, tossing some coin on the counter to compensate.

by **Malaki** on May 3rd, 2012, 9:51 pm

OOC :

Malaki said nothing for a moment, his mind already ignoring his slight blunder into the conversation and he sipped his drink. His hand tensing around the cup at his already shot patience with the other man’s tone and a scathing retort was drown out by his drink. His other half found the whole situation to be quite amusing.

If I recall brother dearest I did request that I go drinking and not yourself.

You said we.

We never implies you. It implies a pretty female.

Ignoring him he turned to the man and slammed down his cup, his frown more pronounced as he spoke carefully. But there was not hiding his hard tone, still he would try to be pleasant, considering everything this was not a day for a fight.

“A tavern is a place where everyone is free to speak. No conversation is private.” After which he rolled his shoulders lightly, chugging the last of his drink. He had already decided he was not drunk enough to deal with—

Snippy little men? Kripke supplied, a chuckle echoing faintly and reflecting through Malaki who did not add to his brothers list of growing insults. Patience he may have but he had more pride than any two brothers put together.

Allowing his cup to be refilled he continued the careful conversation. His words halting and almost sounding as if he had never spoken before and not once did they lose their edge.

“Metal work may be fine but my opinion is otherwise.” He could not resist a faint jibe either, leaning forward slightly as he spoke. A posturing he was accustomed to preforming and that more often than not had Kripke telling him he was all brawn and no muscle. “Or are opinions now taken as facts?”

Not bothering for an answer he turned away once more and began to drink. Conversation was not his forte and the other had shown no abject interest in continuing conversation, least of all with him and whether or not he bought drinks Malaki was not conversationalist.

You’re not going to thank the man for his ale then?

Grunting the Akalak realized drinking may not have been the best idea.

by **Kadrath Onktaka** on May 7th, 2012, 5:44 pm

Adrasto's refusal to follow good manners to two who vastly outranked him irked Rath and Uruk greatly, considering the puny human's lowly status. Kadrath raised one eyebrow sardonically at the human's comment. His voice changed to that unique combination of two souls in one body and he replied coldly,

"Yes. Very rude-for a Kuvan to act that way when a higher status Akalak addresses you in a public bar. Your status is below his and even farther below mine, not to mention a Nakivak woman has more status that you. Definitely rude of you, I agree."

He turned politely to his blue kin, Malaki and introduced themselves,

"We are Rath and Uruk sir. Please join -us- and have a seat on -this- side." He motioned to the seat away from the strangely imperious little human, paused to take a long drink and continued on.

"Metalwork has its refining place once the areas are cleared and the debris is properly separated and categorized. Most definitely -not- the first priority right now. Kind of like the priorities of a lowly Kuvan in the presence of a higher status Akalak and much higher Akontak." He asked the Akalak politely,

"And what are your names?"

(When Rath speaks and when Uruk speaks.)